introduction
Plan Communications Management is the process of developing an appropriate approach and plan for project communications based on stakeholder’s information needs and requirements, and available organizational assets.
The key benefit of this process is that it identifies and documents the approach to communicate most effectively and efficiently with stakeholders.
Concepts
Concepts
- project manager spend more than 90% of their time in communication
- planning communication is process of developing of appropriate approach and planning communication based on stakeholder information
- effective communication mean provide information to right audience at right time
- The major result of communication blockers and miscommunication as a whole is conflict.
- communications between team over many countries supposed to be formal written, since there is deference of culture
- communication channels formula = (n X n-1)/2
communications management should consider :
- who need what information
- who is authorized to access these information
- where info should be stored and with what type of format
- how info could be retrieved
- whether time zone or language barriers cross-cultural should be taken into account
Communication Methods
Communication Methods
interactive :
- there is acknowledge of receiving info from recipient side ,
- like : meeting , phone call, instant messages, video conference
push :
- there is NO acknowledge of receiving info from recipient side ,
- like email , memo , report, fax , correspondence
pull :
- recipient access info whenever he need ,
- like : PMIS , internet website , database , lesson learned , knowledge base
Type of Communication :
Type of Communication :
formal written :
- complex problems,
- PM plan ,
- project charter ,
- communication over long distance
Formal verbal :
- presentation,
- speeches
Informal written:
- email ,
- faxes ,
- memos ,
- instant messages
informal verbal :
- meeting ,
- conversation,
- phone call
Effective Communication Factors
Effective Communication Factors
- Nonverbal : like body language
- par lingual : voice tone
- word :
process inputs - techniques - outputs
Inputs
- pm plan
- stakeholder register
- OPA
- EEF
Techniques
- communication requirements analysis
- communication technologies
- communication methods
- communication model
- meetings
Outputs
- commendation management plan
- update project document
process inputs
Plan Communication Inputs :
Project Management Plan
- Resource management plan–provides guidance on managing resources, including human resources, on the project. The team members and groups identified in this plan will have their communications requirements identified in the communications management plan.
- Stakeholder engagement plan–key stakeholders identified in the project charter have stakeholder management strategies outlined in this plan, which should help in creating their communications requirements during this process.
Project Documents
- Requirements documentation–this may include requirements regarding project stakeholder communications.
- Stakeholder register– this will be updated as a result of this process with the plan for communications with those stakeholders.
Enterprise Environmental Factors
- Stakeholder risk thresholds
- Personnel administration policies (based on governmental laws and/or regulations)
- Organizational culture and governance framework (projectized, functional, or a matrix framework somewhere between the two
Organizational Process Assets
- Organization policies and procedures for social media
- Organizational communication requirements
- Standardized guidelines for exchange, storage and retrieval of information
- Historical information and lessons learned repository from previous similar projects
Process Tools and Techniques
Plan Communications Management: Tools and Techniques
Expert Judgment
- This, along with meetings (, are generic tools and techniques in that they are used in practically all the planning processes that create management parts for the various knowledge areas on the project.
Communications Requirements Analysis
- This technique takes the information regarding stakeholders from the stakeholder register and uses it to determine the information needs of the various stakeholders in terms of the type and format of information they need.
- Part of the RACI (Responsible-Accountable-Consult-Inform) matrix for the stakeholders is who needs to be consulted in the case of a decision, and then who needs to be informed of the results of a decision.
- This can be used to analyze which stakeholders need to be informed before and after any important meeting on the project.
Communication Technology
- Common methods used for information exchange and collaboration are established.
Communication Models
The model itself is pretty simple:
- you have a sender who encodes the message
- and then transmits the message via a communication model
- you have a receiver who decodes the message
Communication Methods
The three basic types of communication are
- interactive communication (when you interact with team members at a meeting, for example)
- push communication (when you send an e-mail out to team members with important information)
- pull communication (when you put information on a website that team members can access as they see fit)
Communication Styles Assessment
- t it basically is an analysis of the preferred communication method for stakeholders, which allows you to tailor your communication to their needs more effectively.
- Political awareness of the relationships within the organization and cultural awareness of the differences between individuals is very helpful for a project manager.
Data Representation
A stakeholder engagement assessment matrix can help in determining the level of engagement of a stakeholder
- Unaware
- Resistant
- Neutral
- Supportive
- Leading
Meetings
- meetings are a generic tool and technique used in all planning processes for various knowledge areas.
process Output
Plan Communications Management: Output
Communications Management Plan
- Stakeholder communication requirements
- Information to be communicated, reason for the distribution, person responsible for communicating the information, time-frame and frequency of distribution, methods and technologies used to convey the information, persons or groups who receive the information, flow charts of the information flow in the project, including sequence of authorization
- Special handling procedures: escalation process and process for releasing confidential information
- Resources allocated for communication activities (in terms of budget and schedule)
- Guidelines and templates for project status meetings, team meetings and virtual meetings (agenda, minutes template, etc.), report formats, templates for e-mail messages
- Constraints derived from legislation or regulation, organizational policies
- Method for updating and refining the communications management plan
Project Management Plan Updates
- As a result of this process, the stakeholder management plan may be updated with the types of information to be communicated to the various stakeholders.
. Project Document Updates
- Project schedule–if communication activities have to be added to the schedule, it is updated to reflect them
- Stakeholder register–the communications planned with the various stakeholders may be added to the register.
